Dinah walked across the room and hugged Caroline. “He may not always know your name, but he still recognizes you. The smiles he gives you are quite different from the polite ones he gives the rest of us. Now, how are we going to deal with Cousin William?”
***
The day before William was due to arrive, they were no closer to solving the ongoing problem of Lady Caroline’s independence. The entire household knew that despite having a middle-aged, ordained minister of religion in the household, and an older female relative of unquestioned virtue and character always at her side, this would not be considered sufficient protection for a young, unmarried, very rich daughter of an Earl. The household had come up with dozens of plans, but not one of them would fly.
Caroline and Dinah sat in the book room, morosely staring into the fire. The men were, as usual, up in her father’s rooms.
Suddenly Dinah started upright. “Caroline, love, have you ever wondered why Sir Robert Price never asked for your hand in marriage?”
“Who? What? Sir Robert? No, I never thought about it before. Well, he is a lot older than me. He must be nudging forty, I would think. His property is a good size and very well managed, so he probably doesn’t need my money as badly as so many other men seem to. And he has never struck me as avaricious or stupid. In fact, I know my father enjoyed his company and considered him an intelligent man. Why?”
Instead of answering the question, Dinah posed another one to Caroline. “You know that Hugh spends quite a lot of his free time visiting Sir Robert. Why do you think that is?”
“What should I think? They are both well-educated men of a similar age. So what if Hugh chooses to eat his mutton with Sir Robert once or twice a week? A man needs a friend, and there’s no reason for Hugh to be chained to the property here.”
“And Sir Robert, despite having a valuable estate and a title to pass to a son, has never married. There has never been the least breath of scandal about him with any woman,” added Dinah meaningfully.
“What? Are you suggesting—? Hugh and Robert? But they are old!”
“Age has nothing to do with love. Or with the begetting of children. Plenty of men beget children at age forty. Aye, and some women bear them at forty as well. I am thinking that Sir Robert may be the answer to your problem. If you and he married—”
“No! I will not marry!”
“Hear me out. If you and he married, having set in place the proper legal restraints so you could both maintain your independence, you could live most of the year in town in your house, and he could live on his estate. Of course, you would need to join him at midsummer and at Christmas, and he may choose to visit with you during the Season, but you would both be living apart much of the year, free to please yourselves. Hugh, Thomas, and John, and maybe others of your staff who do not want to move to town, could live with Sir Robert. As a married woman, you would no longer need a chaperone—a companion would be more than adequate.”
Caroline thought for a long while about the plan. Several times she seemed about to speak, then caught her breath and cogitated some more. Finally, she said, “Dinah, that’s a brilliant plan. You are a genius indeed. I must write to him immediately, asking him to call first thing in the morning before William arrives.”
***
Sir Robert presented himself at nine sharp the next morning, a time when most women were still in their bedchambers. But Lady Caroline and Miss Dinah were ready and waiting in the sitting room with a pot of tea, and Hugh was there as well.
Sir Robert raised a lazy eyebrow at Hugh but received an almost imperceptible shake of the head. Sharp-eyed Lady Caroline noticed the byplay, though, and was relieved that apparently once again her beloved Dinah had been correct in her assumptions.
“Thank you for coming out so early, Sir Robert. It is just that my cousin William Somerton is due to arrive today, and I—we—urgently need to sort out a few matters before he arrives.”
Sir Robert nodded agreeably, accepted a cup of tea from Dinah, and sat carefully in an easy chair from which he could see everyone’s faces.
“I— We—” Caroline took a deep breath and started again. “I do not wish to have William interfering in my daily life or upsetting my father. And I am tired of a ceaseless stream of inappropriate men seeking my hand in marriage.”
Once she had started, the words flowed smoothly with an occasional interjection from Dinah. The hardest part of her speech was dealing with his relationship with Hugh, but she had thought about that overnight and managed to—she hoped—convey respect for his choice without actually referring to it at all or mentioning her own relationship with Dinah.
As she wound down, Sir Robert quizzed Hugh with an eyebrow again, and received the faintest of smiles in response.
“Let me see if I have understood you aright. We become engaged immediately, but do not marry until after your mourning period for your father is over. As soon as possible, your father’s man of business and mine write our wedding contract which enshrines your right to live in your town house and have control of your mother’s assets. We agree to appear together at public functions deemed important to either or both of us, including your Court presentation, your first ball in your town house, my family’s annual ball, and such like. At all times, we maintain the public façade of a marriage of convenience. However, in private, Hugh and I and you and Dinah are free to maintain our existing relationships. Is that correct?”
Dinah and Caroline gasped at his concluding statement, but Caroline nodded firmly, saying, “Exactly so.”
“In that case, Lady Caroline, may I have the honor of your hand in marriage?”
“I am honored by your proposal and accept with pleasure,” replied Caroline.
“I would appreciate it if you would pretend there may be the chance of a child. I have a brace of sturdy nephews but don’t want them growing up at each other’s throats, fighting over me and an inheritance. Or even thinking they need do no work because they will one day have independent means.”
“I like the idea of keeping the Ton guessing about our relationship, even though we will be apart much of the time. And we are not even marrying for a while yet. I will gladly maintain that fiction for you.”
Caroline pulled the bell rope, and when the majordomo appeared, requested champagne. He bowed soberly and returned shortly with a tray holding a bottle and glasses.
When everyone held a glass, Sir Robert toasted, “To a marriage that will benefit us all.”
While they were still sipping the champagne, loud noises were heard from the hallway and the door opened to reveal Cousin William. “Who the hell are you?” William asked.
“Sir Robert Price.” He bowed. “My dear man, please moderate your language. There are ladies present. Lady Caroline has just accepted my offer of marriage. Hugh, do pour the gentleman a glass of champagne.”
William still looked rather bewildered. “I have received letters saying things in this household are not ordered as they should be. And to see Lady Caroline in here with a man…”
“As you see she is here with two men and a lady,” came the urbane response.
“And she has accepted your proposal of marriage?”
“Yes, indeed, and our legal representatives will deal with the marriage contract, so you need not worry about me or my money,” added Caroline.
Since William seemed inclined to argue, Caroline and Dinah left the three men to talk business and retreated to the book room. The staff had already learned of the new developments and were eager to offer congratulations and advice. Caroline reiterated that no marriage would take place until after her father had passed on and the official mourning period had been observed.
“He no longer understands change, and I will not upset him or have him upset,” she warned them.
Then the women began to discuss the possibilities for, and logistics of, a betrothal ball, something Robert had suggested should be done to still wagging tongues at the long engagement.
Chap
ter Four
That night, Dinah quietly stole into Caroline’s room carrying a long, thin, carved wooden box.
“What a lovely box! Whatever is in it?”
“This was given to me by a very dear friend when I left the school to go to my first governess post.”
“By the person who introduced you to womanly love,” stated Caroline.
“Yes. She knew in my new role it would be hard for me to find a new partner, and I might have to spend much time alone. So she gave me this beautiful dildo, and it has been a good companion for me over the years. Oh, nowhere near as good as having a warm, living lover in my arms, but it has its uses, and it definitely helped ease my loneliness. She and I wrote to each other every month but had to be so careful what we said, it was inevitable we would grow apart. But this gift of hers I have always treasured.”
“A dildo?” queried Caroline. “I don’t know that word.”
“A male phallus, made of bone. Or, more accurately, two male phalluses, one at each end, so a woman alone may stimulate herself deeply in her cunny or her back passage, or two women may be joined together, both having the phallus in them simultaneously.”
Caroline watched closely as Dinah opened the box, and there, nestled in a bed of deep, wine-red silk, lay the phallus. It was about one foot long and made of creamy bone.
“Lift it out, hold it, touch it,” said Dinah to Caroline, and with a thrill of adrenaline rushing through her body, Caroline did so. The dildo was slightly cool to the touch, but not cold, and the phallus was intricately carved out of a single piece of bone to look exactly like the real thing—not that Lady Caroline had ever seen a real human phallus, but she had seen dogs and horses and could only assume the human phallus looked fairly similar.
“And a man puts his phallus in a woman’s cunny,” she said, remembering her long-ago lessons from the housekeeper, “but two men would put it in the back passage.” She giggled guiltily, thinking of Hugh and Robert doing that.
“Sometimes a man puts it in a woman’s rear, too, if she does not want to get pregnant or if he likes it better that way. I have heard that after a woman has had many babies, a man gets much more enjoyment out of using her other opening,” added Dinah.
“Can we do both? I’d like to try everything with you.”
“Of course we can, but the first time for either may hurt a little. Virgins generally bleed on their wedding night, remember, although because you have had our fingers inside you, it should not be painful. You may feel a little uncomfortable stretching.”
“Yes, the housekeeper warned me it might hurt, but I don’t care. With you, I want to try everything. Tie it on and show me.”
Dinah took off her robe and night rail, then placed one foot flat on the bed and left the other on the floor so Caroline could watch her insert half the dildo deep inside her cunny.
Lying beside Caroline, Dinah rested her head on her lover’s breasts and said, “I want you so much, but you need to be ready for this. Are you wet inside?”
Dinah plunged two fingers inside Caroline’s privates and felt the younger woman’s hot, damp center.
Reassured, she guided the head of the phallus to Caroline’s opening and kissed her deeply as she pushed it gently inside. There was only the tiniest amount of resistance as she entered, and she thrust her tongue into Caroline’s mouth as she slowly sank the phallus into Caroline’s cunny.
Dinah was incredibly aroused. It had been a very long time since she’d had the phallus inside herself and inside her lover at the same time. It felt so very, very good, and she was almost ready to explode in pleasure, but she needed to make it good for Caroline, too.
So she spread Caroline’s legs wider apart and pressed as deeply as possibly into the other woman, while kissing her mouth, thrusting her tongue inside, then gently pressing butterfly-soft kisses on her cheeks and jaw line.
“I’m ready for more,” whispered Caroline, thrusting her hips up into Dinah’s, giving them both exquisite pleasure. Dinah gasped, withdrew a little, then thrust the phallus inside Caroline again.
Soon, the women got a rhythm going as they lay down, with the phallus staying lodged deep inside Dinah and Dinah pulling out and pressing into Caroline.
Dinah tried to take it slowly, but they were both so aroused they very quickly came to their climaxes.
Dinah went to withdraw it again, but Caroline stopped her. “Leave it in there. I am sure we’ll both be ready for another turn quite soon. This is what men call fucking, isn’t it?”
“Wherever did you hear such a word?” asked Dinah.
“In the stables. That’s where I saw a stallion fucking a mare, too,” answered Caroline, exercising her new vocabulary.
Caroline reached up, grabbed Dinah’s shoulders, and wrapped her legs around the other woman’s, lodging the phallus firmly inside them both. Then, quite cautiously because of the bone dildo deep inside them both, she rolled them over so she was lying on top of Dinah.
Caroline concentrated on Dinah’s breasts. She held the round globes, bigger and softer than her own, and teased their undersides. Then she bent and kissed the nipples, sucking them into her mouth before withdrawing to paint circles and spirals with her tongue. When she reached the areolas, she licked them thoroughly, then teased the nipples again before sucking them into her mouth.
By the time Caroline had completed the process on the second breast, Dinah was whimpering and moaning, thrusting her hips up and rotating them with need. Each thrust of Dinah’s hips pressed the phallus deeper inside Caroline, and soon she was moaning, too. She sat up more and then sank down on the dildo, raising and lowering herself and giving extra force and friction to them both. Soon, Dinah was wiggling frantically as Caroline pressed down. With a last grind of their hips they climaxed together, tremors rolling through both of them, harder than the previous time, leaving them both limp and shaking.
Carefully, Caroline kneeled up over Dinah, allowing the dildo to pull free of her still clenching cunny. When Caroline was clear of her, Dinah sat up and withdrew it from herself, laying the phallus on the nightstand, then pulled the bed coverings over them both.
Satiated, wrapped in each other’s arms, they fell deeply asleep.
***
First thing the next morning, William sent the announcement of Lady Caroline and Sir Robert’s engagement to The Times, and the rest of the day was spent penning letters to relatives about the forthcoming nuptials.
“A mere baronet. You, the daughter of an Earl, could have done much better. People will comment, you know,” complained William.
“Let them comment. I’m an old maid, on the shelf, and my father isn’t well. So far, all the men who have come here have been totally inappropriate as marriage partners. Robert lives nearby and is independently wealthy. They have no cause for complaint,” she replied.
William, quite astute in matters of business, merely nodded, and they went back to penning letters and planning the engagement ball.
It was finally decided to hold the ball at the start of the little season and in London. Lady Caroline and Miss Dinah would come up and spend two weeks buying clothing and preparing for the event. William and his mother would arrive a few days before, and Robert and Hugh would arrive in time for the ball and stay on for another few weeks to escort the ladies to various other social gatherings. Meanwhile, the rest of the household staff were divided between those who would be in town opening up the town house and those left in the country who would spend extra time sitting with the Earl.
Caroline was nervous about leaving her father for so long, but the staff took excellent care of him and the doctor was merely a ten-minute gallop away. And the Earl was very happy in his rooms. He felt comfortable and at home there. Long gone were the days when Caroline had placed large looking glasses on the backs of doors to distract him from leaving his apartment. The doctor had suggested this trick, and the estate carpenter had worked hard to make the huge looking glasses to cover the backs of the doors. The Earl
had indeed been distracted, usually checking his dress and appearance in the mirrors, then wandering back the way he had come, to the great relief of Caroline who had been afraid he would fall down the stairs or go outside and get lost.
***
Caroline and Dinah had a wonderful time shopping for new gowns in the latest styles and for all the little extras—shawls and bonnets, gloves and slippers, and night rails in the finest, sheerest silks. These garments were then sent away to be embroidered and Caroline omitted to tell the seamstress only half were for her—the rest were for Dinah.
For the engagement ball, Caroline purchased a gown of palest blue with an overskirt of a shimmering light blue, and wore her sapphires—tiara, necklace, bracelet, and ring.
On her other hand, she wore the ring Robert had given her, a family heirloom of his, twisted gold surrounding a large diamond. He suggested she flaunt it at every opportunity while she was in town as his sisters had both been wanting it for themselves. With a naughty giggle, Caroline agreed to his plan.
Dinah was wearing a gray silk gown with a tiny lace cap that suited her dark coloring.
Robert looked stunning in black breeches and coat, a snowy white cravat, and a silk waistcoat that exactly matched the color of Caroline’s gown.
Caroline’s town house was crammed to overflowing the entire evening, and the event was given the accolade of the Ton by being voted “a sad crush.”
It was well into the early hours of the morning before Dinah and Caroline retired to their rooms. When the house was quiet, Caroline sneaked out to Dinah’s room, took off her night rail, and slipped naked into her bed.
“Are you sure this is wise?” whispered Dinah. “The servants’ rooms are directly above us.”
Lesbian Lovers Page 3